Minitab
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 Screenshot Minitab 15 |
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| developer | Minitab Inc. |
| Current version | 19.0 (June 5, 2019) |
| operating system | Microsoft Windows 7 , Microsoft Windows 8 , Microsoft Windows 10 |
| category | statistics |
| License | Proprietary |
| http://www.minitab.com | |
Minitab is statistical software that allows you to analyze statistical data and display it in various charts.
Minitab was developed in 1972 at Pennsylvania State University as a light version of the statistical analysis software OMNITAB of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and is used as a statistical tool at numerous American universities and colleges. Minitab Inc. has sold Minitab since 1983. This company is headquartered at State College, Pennsylvania and has subsidiaries in Coventry, England (Minitab Ltd.), Paris, France (Minitab SARL) and from 2017 in Munich, Germany (Minitab GmbH).
Six Sigma and Minitab
Six Sigma is a management method that was developed by Motorola in the 1980s as a new method for standardized quality control; Its aim is to achieve zero-defect quality (combined with the highest level of customer satisfaction) in all areas of a company. In the improvement of processes according to the DMAIC procedure scheme: D efinieren, M eat, A nalysis, improving ( I mprove) and Rules ( C ontrol).
Minitab offers ready-made functions for the various project phases that can also be used by inexperienced users without having to master the statistical background of the methods. For DoEs , an important part of the Measure and Analyze phase, experiment plans can, for example, both be designed and evaluated semi-automatically. Various types of quality control charts are also implemented as a typical tool in the control phase.
Minitab is also used in other quality improvement projects such as “ Kaizen ” and “Triz”.
Minitab's strengths and weaknesses
Minitab is less ergonomic to use than common spreadsheet programs like Microsoft Excel . Formulas can e.g. B. cannot be typed directly into a cell, but must be entered using a calculation tool that can be selected in the menu . The software is consistently geared towards the arrangement of data in columns, there are only a few row and single cell functions. Individual modules of the program use different input conventions. For example, in the calculation function, character strings must be given partly single and partly double quotation marks . The strong integration of complex functions "at the click of a mouse" simplifies standardized evaluations, but at the same time restricts flexibility when creating individual graphics. In addition to the help function, in which the operation of the program is explained, the software also contains an extensive explanation of the statistical tools implemented.